


First Kiss

by soldiermom1973



Series: Virmire Survivor [6]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Josie Shepard, Pinnace Station, new apartment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:36:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14229411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973
Summary: Kaidan and Josie share their first kiss.





	First Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Shenko Smut Thursday. Sadly, the idea didn't come to me until about 5 minutes before I had to leave for work, so by the time I got it written, it was technically Friday. I'm submitting it anyway because the theme was First Time and this leads up to Josie and Kaidan's first kiss.
> 
> I honestly thought this would be just a couple of hundred words, but I'm apparently not ever allowed to write anything short when it comes to these guys. Never. Also, I hate when I have an idea in my head and they're all like, "Oh, no! We have to do this instead!" and what they want makes me cry.
> 
> So, here you go - Josie and Kaidan and their first kiss. Enjoy.

An apartment. Josie couldn't believe it. She hadn't had a place of her own, ever. When she enlisted, the Alliance always made sure she had a roof over her head, even if that roof would move at FTL speeds. There was never any need for her to have her own place, but now she found herself in possession of a prefab on Intai'sei and all because she tested a new simulation on Pinnacle Station.

She was giddy with excitement and set about asking each of the crew if they wanted to head to the surface to check it out with her. Her enthusiasm quickly waned, however, when every single person she asked turned her down. Wrex didn't think he'd fit through the doors after Josie described the place. Ash, Garrus, and Tali were all exhausted from doing a gazillion combat simulations.

“And honestly, skipper, that last one was a doozy. No offense, but I think I just want to crash,” Ash explained. Josie just nodded before heading to the med bay to see if Liara might want to tag along, but the asari said no, too. She and Dr. Chakwas were looking at Josie's brain scans from before and after her interaction with the beacon as well as after getting the cipher on Feros.

Josie sighed heavily and trudged back into the mess, her gaze shifting to the control panel that Kaidan always seemed to be at. The biotic was not happy when a migraine came out of nowhere and landed him a spot on Chakwas's 'no fighting' list. She glanced back at the med bay, realizing she hadn't seen him there when she was talking to Liara. A frown spread across her face as she looked around, wondering where he might be.

Her unspoken question was soon answered when the elevator hissed open and a sleepy Canadian trudged around the corner. “Commander,” he nodded, tightening his grip on a mug of coffee. “How was the training?”

“It was fantastic. I really wish you could have been there. How are you feeling? You look a lot better than when I left.” Josie started getting her hopes up a little, thinking she might be able to talk Kaidan into checking out her new digs with her.

“I'm exhausted,” he admitted, “but that comes with the territory.”

“Do you want to get some fresh air? I won an apartment from Admiral Ahern and no one else is interested in checking it out with me.”

Kaidan paused and quirked an eyebrow at her. “You won an apartment. Seriously?”

“Yup,” she nodded, grinning. “He had some new simulation and I offered to test it. With the safeties off.” She couldn't keep the pride from her tone – the simulation was extremely tough, but they all came through it ok.

“No safeties? Are you nuts? Wait, don't answer that.” Kaidan just sighed and shook his head. “I really worry about you sometimes.”

“Just sometimes?” Josie teased.

“I think you know the answer to that.” His eyes twinkled and he cocked his head just enough for Josie to know what he meant.

“So, fresh air?” she pressed.

“Sure. Why not?” he shrugged. “I'll suit up and meet you at the Mako.”

“Sweet!” Josie squealed, thrilled that someone finally wanted to see her new place with her and even more thrilled that it was Kaidan.

\- - - - - - - - - -

About twenty minutes later, Kaidan and Josie were kitted out and waiting in the Mako for Joker to open the cargo bay doors. “Light armor, Shepard?” Kaidan's gaze shifted along Josie's new armor set. Usually, she was in the heavy stuff, but since this was a civilian area, she figured she'd be ok to tone it down a bit.

“I'm not expecting any enemy resistance,” she joked. “Besides, I love the colors.”

She turned her attention back to the control panel when Joker announced they were approaching the drop point. From the corner of her eye, Josie noticed Kaidan still staring at her. She smiled to herself, pleased that, even though it was just armor and not very flattering, it still caught his attention. The armor she was wearing was black with a lot of red accents along the arms, torso, hips, and legs. The collar and shoulder were red, too. The colors looked amazing together and Josie was thrilled she found something with mods that would enhance her Soldier abilities in the field.

“Is everything ok, Lieutenant?” she asked.

“Yes, ma'am,” Kaidan cleared his throat. “The red suits you, that's all. Brings out your eyes.”

She risked a glance in his direction and laughed when she saw him rub the back of his neck. “You're so adorable when you're embarrassed,” she smirked, patting his leg.

“Yeah, thanks,” he grumbled, resting his hand on top of hers.

The physical contact was still new to them – they'd brush up against each other in the mess or touch hands as they handed off a weapon – but it always felt natural. They took great pains to keep their burgeoning feelings hidden from the rest of the crew, but the professional facade quickly fell away when they were alone (which wasn't often).

Josie pulled her hand back so she'd have complete control over the Mako as it dropped from the Normandy. She activated the thrusters, using them to slow their descent to the planet's surface. When the vehicle stopped bouncing, she pulled up the map, spun the Mako around, and accelerated in the direction of her new home.

“So, I was thinking,” she cleared her throat, “we'll be having some shore leave soon and if you like the place, maybe we could come here.”

“We?” Kaidan asked.

“Yeah, 'we'. Unless I misunderstood what you meant when you made the comment about taking joint leave.” Josie was suddenly unsure about where their relationship was heading. Had she been misreading his signals? Or was he teasing?

“No, no, you didn't misunderstand,” came the slow response. “I just... I mean, I didn't want to assume...” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again.

“Kaidan, I thought I made it clear that I like you. More than like and more than I probably should. I thought you felt the same.”

“I do,” he replied. “I don't want to screw this up, Shepard. I don't want either of us getting into trouble with the Alliance and I don't want to cause problems with the crew.”

“Well, the crew isn't here, are they?” she asked. “It's just you and me and we can talk about our shore leave plans all we want.”

“You're right,” he admitted. “But I don't want to slip up and say or do something when I shouldn't.”

“Understood,” Josie sighed. She realized Kaidan would have to set the pace of this thing that was growing between them. Josie had her Spectre status to hide behind, but if someone in the Alliance really got their panties in a bunch, they could make Kaidan's military career a living nightmare.

They spent the rest of the trip in silence. Fortunately, the drop point wasn't been far from the apartment, so there wasn't much time for Josie to question whether or not things between she and Kaidan would actually work out. Still, in that short time, she wondered if things DID work out, how their careers would be affected. Would she keep the Normandy? Would the Alliance allow them to continue to work together? She supposed she could leave the military if it came down to it, but she didn't want to. And what if things didn't work? He'd probably request a transfer and they'd probably never speak to each other again. The thought of that twisted her stomach into a painful knot and she winced, not wanted to even consider that outcome.

“And here we are,” she announced, thankful to give her brain something else to think about.

Kaidan leaned forward and studied the outside. “Doesn't look like much,” he observed.

“Well, Ahern said it was for his retirement and I don't think he had a spouse or family to move here with him. It looks perfect for one person.” She unhooked herself from the safety harness and stood, grabbing her helmet from the hook behind her. “Let's go check it out.”

Kaidan mimicked Josie's movements and followed her from the Mako. The atmosphere was similar to earth's, so they didn't need breather helmets, something that suited Josie just fine. She hated when they had to wear breathers – not seeing someone's face when they talked to her always made her uneasy, even if it was someone she knew and trusted. Besides, a regular helmet meant she got to see more of Kaidan's handsome features.

A smile crept across her face when she passed her omni-tool over the front door, thankful the locking program Ahern had given her worked. She didn't want to consider the humiliation she'd have endured if she got locked out of her new place, especially with Kaidan being there.

“It's homey,” he said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

She agreed, surveying the hall they stepped into. A weapons rack was on the left and several lockers were on the right. Josie nodded her approval at how convenient it would be for her to drop her gear as soon as she walked in or to kit up if she needed to leave. And if something happened here, like it had on Eden Prime, she'd have no problem grabbing her stuff in a hurry.

She dropped her helmet on the counter and Kaidan followed suit, following her through a door that opened up into what could only describe as a loft – the kitchen, living, dining, and bedroom all occupied the same area. The living room was lower than the rest of the space, with several recliners and a sectional that all faced toward a massive window. “I'll bet the sunset is amazing here,” she said. “I'll have to see about getting some kind of shielding on this glass, though. This seems like one hell of a weak point.”

When Kaidan didn't answer, she turned to see he was studying her. “You ok, Kaidan?”

“Fine. Just, uh, admiring the view.”

Josie laughed again when his cheeks turned red. “Like I said, you're adorable when you're embarrassed.”

Kaidan rolled his eyes and moved to a console in the corner of the living room. “Oh, nice. A music setup. I wonder what we'll find here.”

He pressed a few buttons and a vidscreen popped up. Suddenly, elevator music filled the room.

“Are you kidding me?” he moaned. “Don't we listen to that crap enough when we're on the Citadel?” His fingers flew across the screen as he scrambled to shut it down. “Great,” he grumbled, “now I have that stupid song stuck in my head.”

“I'm sure you can upload whatever music you want to listen to,” Josie laughed.

“Anything is better than _that_ ,” he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the console.

Josie climbed back up the steps and examined the dining table, then the desk that was along the wall. She moved on to examine the vidscreen located conveniently next to the bed, which Kaidan seemed to be studying intently.

“This doesn't look very comfortable,” he observed.

“You're right,” Josie agreed, pushing on the edge to test it out. “It's probably the standard model that comes with the prefab. Ahern was probably planning on getting something else anyway. I'll put getting a new one at the top of the list. With any luck, it'll be here and ready to go by the time we take shore leave.”

A non-committal grunt was the only answer she got, and Josie felt her stomach sink a bit again. Hopefully, his lack of response was just because he was still self-conscious about their earlier exchanges.

“It definitely needs some decorating help,” she continued, running her fingers along a bookshelf. “And a couple more appliances. I think I'll like it here. It'll be a nice place to relax between missions.”

“Yeah, it's nice,” Kaidan agreed. He turned in a small circle, giving everything another look. “What do you say, Shepard? You ready to head back?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Josie tried not to sound disappointed. She hoped that the alone time might lead to more personal conversations like they had on the Normandy or... something. Anything. Not just a boring tour around a tiny apartment. Then again, Kaidan did have a migraine earlier, so any lack of enthusiasm on his part could probably be chalked up to that.

Josie moved to the door that separated the living area from the hallway. She grabbed their helmets from the counter and turned to hand Kaidan his, nearly running into him. “Shit, I'm sorry,” she said, stumbling backward.

Kaidan's arm shot out, snagging her wrist to keep her upright, but when he tugged to keep her from falling, he wound up pulling her against him.

She took a tiny step back and looked up at him, his whiskey-colored eyes staring back at her intently. “Thanks,” she murmured, unable to look away.

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anytime,” he murmured, leaning toward her.

The kiss was hesitant at first. When he pulled back, Josie chased after him, carding her fingers in his hair and pulling his face back to hers. She nipped at his lower lip, teasing her tongue along his teeth. He groaned and opened his mouth, dancing his tongue around her. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms tight around her waist.

“Shepard,” he breathed when they finally came up for air.

“Yes?”

“I think I'd love to take shore leave here with you.”

“I think we can work that out,” she grinned, brushing her fingers along his jaw.

“Just promise me one thing.”

“Name it.”

“Let me change the music in that stupid player.”

“Consider it done,” she laughed.

“Normandy to shore party,” Joker's voice sounded weird as it echoed through the apartment.

“Go ahead, Joker.”

“Just wanted to let you know the Council finally sent the coordinates for that site on Virmire. We can head out when you're ready.”

“Roger that. We're headed back now.” Josie switched the comms off and sighed.

“It's probably a good thing he called when he did,” Kaidan smirked, kissing her forehead. “We might have had to see just how uncomfortable that bed really is.”

Josie laughed and stepped back, sliding her helmet on her head. “Let's go help that STG team out first. Then you can help me find a suitable mattress.”

As they walked back to the Mako, Kaidan slipped his hand inside Josie's. They each had a new spring in their step and Josie had no doubt it was because of what the future held for them.


End file.
